The U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized a bag of dead birds from a passenger’s luggage traveling from China to the Washington, D.C. area. 

The traveler, who arrived on a flight from Beijing on January 27, told CBP agriculture specialists that the birds were for cat food that he was planning to take to Prince George’s County, Maryland.

According to CPB,  the birds from China are prohibited for import due to the potential threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

“These dead birds are prohibited from importation to the United States as unprocessed birds pose a potentially significant disease threat to our nation’s poultry industries and more alarmingly to our citizens as potential vectors of avian influenza,” said Casey Durst, Director of Field Operations for CBP’s Baltimore Field Office. “Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists continue to exercise extraordinary vigilance every day in their fight to protect our nation’s agricultural and economic prosperity from invasive pests and animal diseases.”

The package was destroyed on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture by border protection agriculture specialists.

During a typical day last year, CBP agriculture specialists across the nation seized 4,695 prohibited plant, meat, animal byproduct, and soil, and intercepted 314 insect pests at U.S. ports of entry.